‘Dirty’ hotel in dock over dog hair in kitchen

Two hoteliers failed to react when they were told their hotel kitchen was dirty and unhygienic.

Investigators found large amounts of dog hair in the food preparation area of the Arncliffe Hotel, on Adelaide Street.

Arncliffe Hotel

The owners, Adrian Garbutt, 35, and Rodney Smallwood, 50, who live in a flat at the 50-bedroom hotel admitted a series of hygiene offences.

Lynda Bennett, prosecuting for Blackpool Council, said the duo were served an improvement notice including a directive to get rid of hair from their two pets dog found in the kitchen.

But a review of the premises said that this had not been done.

The prosecutor said the dogs were kept in a room adjacent to the kitchen area. The kitchen had dirty floors, there were dirty carpets and a dirty can opener. Work surfaces were not in a sound condition.

Arncliffe Hotel

There were cracks in the plasterwork and a hole in the ceiling.

She said: “Officers looked at the paperwork which must be filled in by food business operators. Records were missing but dates in the future had been filled in.”

She went onto to tell Blackpool Magistrates how the cleanliness of a fridge freezer, hot cupboard and cooker were not up to standard.

Food was stored incorrectly and a cream cheese was found with mould on it, the court heard.

Arncliffe Hotel

When one of the hoteliers was questioned about the conditions he said they were not currently serving food to guests.

However, another officer later booked in and was quoted a price of £50 a night, bed and breakfast.

The prosecutor added that a bag of salad was in the fridge past its use by date.

“Taking an overall picture of food hygiene there was a lack of basic cleaning and maintenance. Food was being prepared in a dirty environment.” she added.

“They had a chance to comply but failed to do so.”

The defendants said they employed 19 staff in two hotels in the town and felt let down by a chef at the Arncliffe who they said was not up to the job.

They said that their two dogs were separated from the kitchen by a baby safety gate.

The duo produced financial documents in which they claimed they did not get any form of income from the hotel for which they said they would not be renewing the lease.

Magistrates refused to sentence Garbutt and Smallwood as they were not satisfied the accounts and gave the duo two weeks to come up with more details about their financial state.

Coun Gillian Campbell, Deputy Leader of Blackpool Council, said: “If your business sells food to the public then you have a legal and moral duty to make sure that your kitchens and preparation areas are clean and that the food you serve is safe.

“Business who don’t follow the advice we offer them, or who repeatedly fail to comply with food law, will be prosecuted in line with our enforcement policy. This is to ensure consumers in Blackpool can be confident their food is safe to eat.

“If in doubt people should check the food hygiene rating of a businesses at www.food.gov.uk/ratings before you eat. Ratings may change regularly so it’s worth checking again each time.”